A Visit From a Hummingbird

A tiny “hovercraft” swooped into my backyard searching for food. What can we learn from that hummingbird’s search for food?

Our small backyard is surrounded by a tall privacy fence. A few years ago, I planted flowers and added two hummingbird feeders on a pole. I also placed a large bird feeder in the yard, built a circular flowerbed nearby and placed a birdbath in the center. 

Each spring, I plant low-growing wildflower seeds around the birdbath. The colorful variety of flowers that bloom at different times during the summer is a feast for our eyes—not to mention a literal feast for the butterflies and bees of our neighborhood.

During the summer, we receive daily visits from various birds, including robins. 

My husband and I greatly enjoy watching the robins bathe in our birdbath. While other birds enjoy a more sedate drink of water, the robins jump into the middle of the birdbath and splash vigorously with their wings until water is flying everywhere! Once satisfied, they fly to the top of the fence to finish grooming themselves.

Many types of birds have visited us. Yet, for some reason, we have seldom seen a hummingbird.

My special place

Since our backyard is very private, I have a special, shaded corner of our yard where I go almost every morning with my Bible. 

Here, I read and then stop to muse over what I am reading. I often pray in my mind to God, sometimes with joy and sometimes with tears. My prayers include thanksgiving to the Creator God who inspired His written Word, the gift and blessing that sits on my lap and feeds my mind! 

While I read and ponder the blessing of His Word, I take in the sky, trees, grass, flowers and creatures in my garden—also gifts from the Creator God.

A hummingbird who found no food

One such morning, I suddenly saw a welcome little visitor fly over our fence, searching for food.

Since I had given up on attracting hummingbirds, I had not emptied the old nectar or replaced it with fresh nectar for over a week. 

The heat of our Texas summers causes the sugar water to ferment quickly. That beautiful little “hovercraft” flitted to each feeder but would not drink the old nectar. It then flew to the flowers near the feeders but found no flowers with the nectar it desired. It flew just above my head and checked out our brightly-colored metal wind chimes.

Finding nothing to its taste, it departed back over the fence. 

Good food brought it back

Desiring the return of my little visitor, I made fresh sugar water, emptied and sterilized the feeders, and filled them with fresh food. Then I waited. 

One or two days later, I stood in our kitchen looking out the window overlooking our backyard. Suddenly, a hummingbird darted over our fence, hovered over the hummingbird feeders and began to feed!

Feasting together

That little hummingbird came back almost every day. Soon, other hummingbirds of different sizes and colors joined.

What a lovely display of God’s handiwork!

For a short time last summer, I could sit in the privacy of our backyard “feasting” on the Word of God while being joined by those little hovercrafts feasting on the food I had prepared for them.

Newness of life just ahead 

As I revisit these summer memories during the Texas winter, the Bible and the calendar tell us that the spring holy days are just around the corner. 

This is when God nourishes and renews His children through the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8). God also brings His physical creation to life again as it blossoms and blooms in this season of renewal. 

Finding a new special place

In the coming months, my husband and I will move from our home and private backyard. 

I don’t know where my special area will be when we move. But I know I must find a place where I can be alone with God and have His creation surround me.

If you haven’t already found a special place among the trees, flowers, birds and butterflies, I hope you soon can. And maybe you’ll enjoy a visit from a hummingbird searching for food just as you are!

For more insight on meditating on God’s Word, read “What Is Biblical Meditation?”